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Official Top Ten Cities - Way to go Sydney!
by Swan | June 11, 2008 at 12:46 pm | 891 views | 23 comments
Honestly, there is no surprise there. Sydney IS beautiful, even if it would also make it into the Top Ten Most Expensive cities to live. Compounding Sydney's successful placement is not the only gorgeous Australian city to make it into the top thirty-five cities either.
There are four others, making Australia a truly wonderful place to raise your children - as I did, in Melbourne.
Melbourne has stayed at seventeenth, as Perth has done, Adelaide improved by one, to hit twentieth and Brisbane came in at thirty-fourth place. I've been to three out of four, with a wish that one day, I'll manage to see Perth with my husband.
When my children were young, my family and I once took a road trip from Melbourne, traveling north to Alice Springs. My eldest son and I climbed what was then known as Ayer's Rock (now Uluru, since aboriginals won their right to claim it back,) and lay exhausted at the top, breathing heavily, with a little laughter at our struggle and the greatest sense of achievement that I've ever felt in my life. It was that good.
Australian cities usually make it into the top thirty-five list, but it's not often that four have made it there in the same year.
The factors which are considered when rating a city for inclusion are:
- established infrastructure;
- transport facilities;
- quality housing close to the city;
- a wide selection of restaurants and other amenities;
- good education and environment.
The annual survey is used by international companies and governments as they set pay rates for expat., workers. That and a salary survey (in part,) also reveals exactly what it takes to attract working people from overseas.
In addition to these criteria, Australia also has one of the best standards of living in the world. Therefore it's no wonder that Australia has many Americans in their upper management sector who have requested transfer to one Australian city or another.
The Top Ten Cities global survey relies on data that's been collected over a period of three months to November the previous year, with last minute monitoring conducted to confirm results.
The quality of life factors that are considered are:
- political and economic stability;
- human rights and personal freedoms;
- pollution;
- crime rates;
- health standards;
- cost of consumer staples;
- access to education, housing and entertainment;
- public transport and traffic congestion;
- climate and record of natural disasters.
Zurich came in at number one again with Vienna and Geneva in a tie at second place. The city with the lowest quality of living and the lowest levels of safety, was Baghdad, a country that can now only be described as war-torn, exceedingly dangerous and terribly sad.
With all these factors that are taken into consideration, I'd rather the Olympic committee used the same criteria to choose their host city - it would be far more appropriate and would certainly have cut Beijing out with it's ignorance of human rights as their major issue.
Two American cities also made it into the top thirty five - Honolulu and San Francisco. The latter I've been to and had many wonderful times there with friends but Honolulu, I keep thinking one day ....
Interesting Links:
About.com
Top 10 Free Sydney Attractions
by Larry Rivera
About.com
World's Best Concert Halls - Top 10 Concert Halls
By Aaron Green
Travel Industry Insider
Top 10 Things to do in Sydney, Australia
by Erin JulianTrip Advisor
Sydney, Australia Overview
by Erin JulianTrip Advisor
Vibe Hotels
Top Ten Tourist Attractions
Sources:
The Australian
Sydney cracks top ten cities
Image Sources:
Matthew Field
Wikimedia Commons
Fajitian2
Public Domain
Rob and Jules
Creative Commons
More information together with excellent photos of Sydney
News Tools
June 11, 2008 at 12:46 pm by Swan, 891 views, 23 comments
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Comments (23)
at 12:58 on June 11th, 2008
Swan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
I would love to go to Sydney - it seems so beautiful!
at 13:25 on June 11th, 2008
Hello Amy!
You really should, to me it's still pretty spectacular, however if you do happen to go one day, don't discount Melbourne. It's known as the City of Gardens or the City of Restaurants.
With such a multi-cultural society, the ethnic restaurants that are available in Melbourne are exceptionally varied and delicious and you'll find foods that you've never thought of eating before.
The gardens range from small to large, some the size of two blocks. The latter you can visit once and still never have seen all it has to offer.
Let me know if you ever decide to go, I can put you in touch with a few people.
Thanks for stopping by and for the GS flag, those little things mean a lot!
~ Swan
at 13:42 on June 11th, 2008
Swan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
what about Melbourn?
at 14:27 on June 11th, 2008
Hello AzzayIndia,
If you're asking where did they rate in the list, they came in the top 35 which honestly surprises me. Melbourne seems to have all the requirements, I guess there were just some that were 'better.'
If I haven't answered your question, please clarify your question a little more, and I'll be happy to answer you. ;)
I do appreciate the GS flag, thank you!
~ Swan
at 13:51 on June 11th, 2008
Swan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 14:30 on June 11th, 2008
Hello Tomitheos,
Thank you for stopping by to read the article and for the GS flag! I appreciate the photos you uploaded too, wonderful additions!
~ Swan
at 14:22 on June 11th, 2008
Wasn't Melbourne #1 not that long ago?
(I'm a bit of a Sydney fan, especially Bronte Beach)
at 14:38 on June 11th, 2008
Hi Jordan,
Honestly I don't know. I guess I must have been overseas touring at some point if that happened and I didn't know.
I haven't been to Bronte Beach, but I have been to Bondi, Tamarama, and Palm Beach in the past - all spectacular and truly beautiful. I guess you've been to Bronte beach, what did you think of it?
Thank you for the GS flag, it means a lot!
~ Swan
at 16:16 on June 29th, 2008
Hi Swan & Jordan
I found this http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/04/world.cities/#fulllist Melborne was no. 1 back in 2002. I'm really interested in this because I am planning on emigrating out to Oz, I'm looking at Perth or Brisbane - to be honest didn't really consider Melborne. Guess it's another one to add to my list of places to check out.
at 14:35 on June 11th, 2008
Swan, glad you like the pics I added to your story.
Jordan, I agree with you, it wasn't that long ago it seems. Australia is the place to be if you are making the big bucks so I would be curious to know how Australia ranks in wages and income.
at 14:44 on June 11th, 2008
Welcome back Tomitheos!
Here's a list I found on Google. If you happen to go through them, I'd be interested in what you think. ;)
~ Swan
at 15:24 on June 11th, 2008
thanks Swan!
I read some articles from your posted hyperlink and I guess this quote form a 2007 article says it all:
"Mosman, on Sydney's north shore, has far and away the highest average wage and salary in Australia; a 2007 report from the statistician stated that in the 2003-04 fiscal year, Mosmanites earned on average $88,658."
That's more than double the national average! And considering Australia's best-place-to-live-in popularity, I bet the salaries have increased since then.
at 15:37 on June 11th, 2008
Australia's an amazing country. I would definitely consider living there, but living so secluded from the rest of the world would be tough. Definitely a wonderful long period vacation spot.
at 22:37 on June 11th, 2008
Hello ESKCSG,
I think you may have been thinking about a time before flight travel ;)
Australians regularly go to Fiji, which is 4 hours away from Sydney; Hong Kong is 8 hours away; Singapore is 7 hours; New Zealand is 4 hours away and Bali is 6.5 hours.
My trip from Oregon to Connecticut took me longer than a trip from Sydney to Fiji! ;)
Just to throw in another flight time; execs., regularly commute to and from Sydney because it's only an hour away. Their bosses pay for that I'll bet.
Now my trip from Oregon to Melbourne is a bitch! 22 hours, and that's if we have a tail wind! David and I need to make that trip every 18 months or so, for me to visit my family, so I hope you take pity on us the next time we go. ;)
Australia has easy access to all the Pacific islands and to the East but here in the States, you're much closer to Europe than Australia is, that is if we don't find ourselves floating towards there on a tectonic plate some time. :)
~ Swan
at 15:56 on June 11th, 2008
I agree ESKCSG, the only downfall or down-under-fall is the long trip to any other civilization.. but that can be a selling point for the rich and famous.
at 17:07 on June 11th, 2008
Swan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 22:41 on June 11th, 2008
Hello Informatique,
Thank you for coming to read my article, I do appreciate the GS flag too!
~ Swan
at 19:00 on June 11th, 2008
Thanks for posting!!
I've never been, but I am going on exchange there next year for school and this post made me very excited!
at 22:54 on June 11th, 2008
Hello Michelle,
Oh how lovely! You're going to have a wonderful time, you'll find Australians to be very friendly and do make sure you go and see both Sydney and Melbourne. Each has its own beauty, with Sydney being very fast paced, while Melbourne is more laid back and with many more nature parks (not zoos.)
If you're in Melbourne, ask someone to take you for a trip up the Great Ocean Road. You'll see so much beauty along the ocean and the road you travel, that it'll take your breath away.
David and I took that trip on our honeymoon and stayed at various places along the way. It seemed that there was always something different to see or do.
If you're up really early in the morning, you can take a walking tour a little further along and see platypus' in the wild - or pick anyone of the fantastic surf beaches along the way. Actually, that's where Bells Beach is, has been the site of the World Surfing Championships.
Surfers travel from Hawaii to surf there and of course our surfers go there for their fantastic beaches.
I could go on ..... and on ...... and on .... ;)
~ Swan
at 19:41 on June 11th, 2008
Sydney really is a nice place to live.
at 22:56 on June 11th, 2008
Hello Jeff,
Have you been there? I really hope you enjoyed your time in Sydney, or still enjoying yourself if you're living there. :)
Thank you for the GS flag, I do appreciate it.
~ Swan
at 20:27 on June 11th, 2008
Swan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
I lived near Brisbane for two years and I visited Melbourne during that period...undoubtedly, it is a nice place to live in.
But I prefer Queensland weather.
at 23:00 on June 11th, 2008
Hi Jayr-patron,
I'm happy that you enjoyed both places and for what it's worth, I totally agree with you about the weather! I think I've been to the Gold Coast three times now and I could live there quite happily. Even the lifestyle is lovely - who could resist going to the beach every day?!
Thank you for the GS flag!
~ Swan